OUT OF THE SHADOWS

Part of the first city-wide Muslim Voices: Arts and Ideas Festival, BAMs series Muslim Voices: The Female Perspective presents seven feature films that delve into what its like to be a woman in the Muslim world. Today, you can catch Persepolis, the black-and-white animated film based on the graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi about a girl growing up during the Iranian Revolution. On Monday, dont miss the seriess award-winning centerpiece Jafar Panahis Offside, about a group of Iranian female soccer fans who try to sneak into the men-only stadium. Considering it too controversial, the Iranian censors prohibited Panahi, who was recently arrested for political reasons in Tehran, from making the filmbut then he went ahead and made it anyway. Its that kind of courage that makes Offside and all the films in this series extraordinary. March 26-31, 2010